Good rant on the news page

[RangerWickett]

Remember folks that this is still a civil place. Russ's grandma will no doubt chide him heartily for what he said, so while we can all grin that he said it, let's not start swinging angry comments ourselves. Comment however you like as long as you keep it civil, please.

 

[mroberon1972]

Remember folks that this is still a civil place. Russ's grandma will no doubt chide him heartily for what he said, so while we can all grin that he said it, let's not start swinging angry comments ourselves. Comment however you like as long as you keep it civil, please.

Huh? Wha'di'I'say?

 

[RangerWickett]

Oh, I wasn't complaining about anything in particular. I just thought it'd be good to make sure things don't get out of hand here, just in case. *grin*

 

[Aristotle]

First off, good rant Morrus. It has to feel good to get that much weight off of your chest.

I'm not a 'fanboy'. I don't really follow any specific game designers or publishers. I buy what appeals to me, and what I find to be a quality product. No publisher, not even WotC, is above that level of scrutiny. And I rely on the reviews and discussions here at ENworld to help me form a baseline opinion (modified by my own research) about a product.

Without ENworld I would most likely never know about you 3rd party publishers. Nor would I find reason to purchase 50% of the WotC stuff in any sort of a hury. ENworld sells your products with or without your involvement. Get involved!

I enjoy the d20 setting, so I'd likely collect it even if ENworld wasn't here... but its this community that keeps me playing the game. Its this community that keeps the game fresh for me. Otherwise the bulk of my spending dollar would likely have moved on to another game system by now... I suspect, whether they realize it or not, the same is true for others here.

It makes me angry that publishers would take advantage of, or simply snub, this community. I take personal offense at the idea that any publisher feels this community owes them anything more than what they are already getting.

I'm seriously considering limiting the majority of my role playing funds to publishers who maintain active, and positive, presences here at ENworld. Screw the rest of them...

 

[Steve Miller]

Otherwise, only things that the you deem newsworthy get posted.

I would hope that this has been the case all along.

If it hasn't been, then people have been getting free rides they probably didn't deserve.

The rant struck me in a different way that it might have struck others. Between ca. 1995 and 1999, I developed a rather strong dislike for a wide swath of the gaming community. These gamers seemed to feel that they had a *right* to the labors put forth by game designers and artists, and that they shouldn't be obligated to *pay* anything for those creations.

It would appear that some of those gamers of 5-10 years ago are now running their own publishing companies. Now, they have a *right* to have their products promoted by third parties for free.

 

[Tav_Behemoth]

As a gamer and a fan of EN World, I share everyone's dismay that Morrus has been treated so shabbily. This site has always played an important role for me, not just as a source of news and information about the game I love, but also as an miraculously friendly, civil, and decent community of people who share the love. It's tragic that there's another side to that, although if I'd thought about it I should have known this would be the case and that it might relate to publishers, as publishers are one of the main interfaces the site must have with commercial activity. Money & commerce is usually one of the biggest problems for any utopian community, a category in which I think EN World rightfully belongs.

As a publisher, I feel like words alone won't do. There are ways everyone at EN World can support this community, like donating and posting messages that encourage and show gratitude for the people who make it possible. Publishers do more to create problems for Morrus; how can we do more in return, taking advantage of our unique role?

One way Morrus's rant mentions is linking to EN World via our websites. It's true that no one publisher's site matches the volume of traffic that EN World refers to us, but every bit counts, so it's something all of us should do.*

Another way would be to mention or thank EN World in our products. This would be especially valuable for print products, since these might reach people who aren't aware of the Web's greatest resources. Behemoth3 already has a "B3 Recommends" in our Horde Books (which is an active hyperlink in the PDF edition); EN World should have been mentioned there all along, and I'll fix the mistake in the next set of books.**

Other ideas about how publishers can make unique contributions?

- Tavis

* Full disclosure: while the B3 links page gives a link to EN World, it's not up on our site yet; will remind Nat the webmaster about it now!
** I very consciously don't want to use this as a self-promotional opportunity. Morrus is right; you don't need any more stuff.

 

[Berandor]

Morrus, regarding that foolish rant I have just one thing to tell you:

YOU ROCK!

And thank you for providing ENWorld!

 

[Blue]

Darn good rant.

You know, the rant was aimed at the publishers, but as a gamer and daily reader on ENworld it reminds to so say:

Thank you! ENWorld is great, and we really appreaciate it.

Cheers,
=Blue(23)

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Just tossing in my support.

If there's anything ENWorld needs that I can help with, let me know.

 

[Hand of Evil]

I would be lost without all of you...thank you.